I think we all know that fact-checkers are not to be trusted, and I experienced this eternal truth again this morning. A friend posted the meme which read, "500 National Guardsmen being called to Kenosha ahead of the Rittenhouse verdict. Had they done this in the first place, there wouldn’t have been a trial."
Allow me to criticize the meme for a moment. The second sentence is presumptuous. We don't know for sure what would or would not have happened if 500 guardsmen were present in August 2020. I would have written the statement a little differently, perhaps like this: "had they done this in the first place, there likely wouldn't have been a trial."
But back to the original post, there was a fact-check warning on it. I usually ignore them but I was curious how they were going to lie through this one. Here's what I found …
"The claim implies that the National Guard was not in Kenosha in August 2020 when Rittenhouse, then 17, shot three people, two of them fatally. But Gov. Tony Evers called in the National Guard on Aug. 24, and the guardsmen arrived the same day. The Rittenhouse shooting happened the following day, Aug. 25 … … The day after the Blake shooting, protests grew violent, with more than 30 fires set and dozens of buildings destroyed. Evers activated the National Guard and 125 members arrived in Kenosha on the night of Aug. 24 … … We rate this claim False."
Hey Politifact! Or more specifically, Monique Curet. There is a difference of approximately 375 between the numbers 500 and 125. The meme said that 500 guardsmen were called in. If it had said 125 guardsmen were called in, then you might have a point. The claim does not imply that the National Guard was not in Kenosha in August 2020. It implies that if there had been 500 guardsmen there, Rittenhouse would not have had to defend himself. You obviously can't reply to the actual claim itself, and have to assign it some implication that you made up in your own head.
We rate your fact-checking False.
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I am so thankful to live where we live.
Yesterday afternoon I did my big grocery shopping trip and then we went to my brother's house for dinner, so it was late by the time we arrived home. We were tired and after unloading the children, I told James I figured the temperature was good enough to leave all the groceries in the car (except for the freezer stuff) so we left them there and went to bed.
This morning, as I started unloading groceries, it occurred to me that in spite of all the problems we're facing ... inflation, food shortages, rising crime, etc ... I had just left about $350 worth of groceries sitting in my driveway, in my unlocked SUV overnight!
In hindsight, I'd probably lock the car next time just in case. But the fact that my reaction was to leave them without having any concern about it, speaks to the safety and security that we feel regarding our community. I'm thankful to be in a situation where we have the ability to get a carload of groceries and that we don't feel ...
